


Remnant

by BadDoggo



Category: Ud, Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Climbing Class, Everyone lived, F/F, F/M, Gore and Violence, Horror, Multi, So much angst, Unfinished, Wendigo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-25
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-09-19 20:37:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9459515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadDoggo/pseuds/BadDoggo
Summary: So in its entirety, this thing is 25 pages long. Deleting it off my google docs is like... nah? So I'll post it here, or the parts I don't loath. This is based off a prompt I saw on tumblr where Josh sought out Chris, and Chris decides he has to help his friend get better. Woohoo y'all buckle the fuck up.





	1. Chapter 1

Something

Something...important.

He was looking for something important, something familiar, he didn’t know what it even was but he needed it. He was yearning for it, it was agony. He’d searched the mines, searched what was left of the lodge, it wasn’t there. He’d never find it. His search took him down the mountain. The sun hurt his eyes, hurt his skin, but he needed to find it. So he braved the sun, braved the ‘real world’ but he was so far gone that he didn’t even realize how absolutely fucked and horrifying he looked. 

Face mangled, eyes a dull milky color, blood and dirt soaked into the remnants of the overalls he’d worn on that night. The night when he had lost it. Lost something. Something important. He needed to find it. 

People didn’t scream when they saw him because no one saw him. He was hungry, and when people wandered past him he’d stop for a mere moment and consider…

Except he didn’t have the time. The something was getting further and further away, retreating further and further back into his memories and he didn’t want to lose it. He had lost the physical thing but… the memories were there. The memories of something soft and pleasant and warm, a musky smell. Like the outdoors but not quite, softer. 

He didn’t know where he was going, he was following some vague faded memory. It told him where to go, the something would be there once he arrived. He didn’t even process that he was back in the town he’d grown up in, scuttling along buildings he’d spent hours inside or walked past daily. Those memories had faded some time ago, and truthfully he had let them go without much of a fight. He wanted to forget. Forget everything. Except the something.

An apartment building, nice but run down, no one was coming or going at this hour. He was so close, he could feel it, and he scurried along the side of the building to the third floor, thwarted briefly by a window, smashing it with a fist moments later. He clambered inside the apartment, immediately overwhelmed by the familiarity. It smelt safe, warm, inviting almost. This wasn’t what he was looking for though, something was missing and he scurried to the bedroom.

Disheveled but tidy, a few articles of clothes and a cup were scattered along the floor. With no regard to the upkeep of the room, clawed hands grabbed at a few shirts that had been tossed on the bed. He pulled them to his face, inhaled, it wasn’t the same. He was so close to finding it. He continued to rummage, tearing through the closet like a frenzied beast, sniffing and snarling when he couldn’t find what he was looking for. This was all wrong. This wasn’t what he was looking for but he was so close.

And then the scream hit his ears and his head whipped towards the sound. He snarled at the intruder, quickly closing the distance between himself and the other, one hand moving to grab the screaming thing’s throat, pinning the defenseless thing against a nearby wall. The thing was blubbering, words he didn’t really understand but…

“...Josh…”

He knew that word. It was important, so very important. He leaned closer to the creature he had trapped. It didn’t struggle anymore, and instead he found his gaze met with...acceptance? He was so close now, ragged breath coming out in puffs against the other’s skin. He could feel its pulse against his fingers, and he could hear it talking to him, soft reassuring words. He could see himself in the creature’s eyes, and he stared, stared deep for a long time. 

“...Josh…”  
The warm familiar smell, the soft outdoorsy smell, the smell of home, of comfort, it wafted into his nose. He didn’t forget, no. The memories were still there, swimming through his mind. He could see them pooled in the other’s eyes, the something he hadn’t wanted to forget, the something he was so close to forgetting. He’d found it. 

“...Chris…” The name came out so slow, so garbled. Josh couldn’t remember the last time he had spoken and it felt unnatural now.


	2. Chapter 2

Chris had had this nightmare many times since returning from the mountain. Often times Josh would be standing over his bed, and when he awoke he’d pounce, or the abandoned boy would beg him to come save him. Sometimes he’d wake up and Josh would be on top of him, staring down at him, only to lean in and rip his throat out, or sometimes he’d start at the stomach, and Chris would watch through screams and tears, begging for forgiveness. The dream always had the same ending, he’d wake up screaming, sweating and confused. 

Except he wasn’t dreaming. The hand that closed around his throat and silenced his startled screams was real. Chris wasn’t sure how he knew, but he did. He was petrified of the thing standing in front of him, the thing that slowly leaned in to stare at him, the light from a street lamp outside illuminating its face and-

“...Josh…” He could hardly get the word out, he could barely breathe, not to mention speak. But he did, and he saw something flash across the other’s face. Recognition. “Josh… oh god Josh.” Tears were brimming in his eyes, but the death grip Josh had on his throat loosened ever so slightly. Neither of them moved, but Chris… Chris was ready. There was no reason for Josh to be here other than revenge, not if he was like this, and the blonde found himself at peace with this thought. Imagining Josh tearing into him was a horrifying thought, no matter how many times he’d dreamt it. It was always jarring and suddenly he was staring that reality in the face, a face that was moving closer to his, sniffing at him. 

“It’s okay buddy,” his words were shaky and Chris wasn’t even sure if Josh could understand him. “Josh man...I’m so fucking sorry.” He was. Chris didn’t know how to convey that though, and all he could do was meet Josh’s hazy gaze. “I wanted to go back for you. I-I fucking tried.” That wasn’t an excuse though, he shouldn’t have abandoned Josh. He was sick and Chris had just left him tied up in a shed like bait, and now he was a monster. “I-If you’re gonna…” Kill me. Chris wanted it to be over, he really did. He wanted it to be over quickly, but he knew he didn’t deserve that either.

Josh really only seemed to respond to his name, and honestly Chris wasn’t even sure how much of what he said the other comprehended, but even if Josh didn’t understand him he needed to apologize. 

“...Chris…”

For a moment he wasn’t sure if he was simply imagining it or not, except he’d watched as Josh’s mouth opened and closed, opened and closed, testing the waters, before he spoke. It sounded awful, like he hadn’t had anything to drink in years. Chris was silent for sometime, unable to really process what was happening. Josh leaned in so close to him, eyes wide and afraid. He recognized Chris. Slowly Chris started to formulate words of his own, grasping desperately for something, anything to say that could bring Josh back.

“Help me…”

Raspy, frightened, Josh had beat him to the punch and hearing those words come from his friend’s mouth made Chris’ heart lurch. He didn’t deserve this. They stayed like that for some time, Josh’s hand still loosely pressed against Chris’ throat, occasionally giving a non-committal squeeze. Eventually Chris lifted his own hand, slowly reaching up to grip Josh’s wrist. As his fingers closed around a far too scrawny wrist, he felt Josh’s eyes boring into him, but he didn’t attack Chris as his hand was lowered. Instead he let it fall limply to his side, and slowly Chris reached out fingers brushing against the non-mangled side of Josh’s face. “I’ve got you bro.” He didn’t know how he was going to help Josh, but his best fucking friend had got himself turned into this beast and it was all his fault, and Chris was going to fix it. 

He hated the way Josh flinched away from his touch, hated the low growl that escaped the other boy’s throat as he cupped his cheek. Chris wanted to wrap his arms around his friend, pull him close and cry, but he couldn’t. He could see Josh was fighting with himself just being this close to him, and Chris lowered his hand slowly, careful not to move too quickly. 

“We’ll figure this out.”


	3. Chapter 3

The creature living with him barely resembled Joshua on most days. Chris had stopped walking on his tip toes after the first week, but there was definitely still a heavy tension that hung in the air. Josh looked like himself for the most part, one side of his face looked like the beginnings of a Joker costume, and he was much scrawnier, a bit paler, his fingernails sharp and clawlike. Still, he was still recognizably Joshua Washington, even if his once bright green eyes were now milky, like someone had swirled too much water in some paint. Josh looked like Josh, but he didn’t act like him. 

The first few days with Joshua in his apartment were hell. Truthfully he was afraid of getting chomped on at night since apparently Josh never slept anymore. The attack he expected never came, but that didn’t mean Josh wouldn’t sit at the end of his bed and screech at him. A sudden movement, a loud sound, anything really and Josh would be standing there, screaming at him. The sound wasn’t quite like the wendigo from the mines, it sounded more human. It was a strange thing to find comfort in. Other than screaming though, Josh hadn’t said a word. That didn’t mean Chris didn’t talk to him, he did, all the time, and for what it was worth he seemed to understand some of it. 

Getting food for Josh was the worst part. He refused to eat anything that was cooked, he’d stare at it, scream and disappear into the bedroom closet. Eventually Chris started giving Josh raw meat, something he didn’t want to do. It seemed to walk such dangerous ground, and with each steak he gave to Josh he felt like the ice beneath him was cracking a bit more. The steak and other raw meats seemed to satisfy Josh for the most part. Chris could tell he was still hungry, but for some reason Josh didn’t attack him, even if sometimes Chris could see the want in his eyes. 

Tonight was a bad night for Chris. The nightmares were much more frequent, more vivid. It didn’t help that when he woke up, screaming and in tears that he’d be met with more screams. Each time it happened it was the same. The dream started with Josh standing over him, clambering on top of him, and then ripping into his stomach and anyone who says people can’t feel pain in their dreams is a fucking liar. Chris could feel every bite, he could feel the burning hot agony that washed over him as Josh sank his claws into his stomach, opening him up like some fucked up surgeon before shoving his face into Chris’ innards. Tonight was no different. Stress from… well everything was weighing on Chris, and when he fell asleep it was restless, and again he woke screaming.

This time his screams of agony and fear weren’t met with angry screeches and snarls. Instead there was silence, and Chris would have assumed Joshua wasn’t even in the room except he could feel his bed dipping down under the weight of the other male. Josh usually kept his distance from Chris, but tonight he was right next to him. It wasn’t until a hand touched his cheek that Chris realized he was still sobbing, he was the one making all these awful noises. Josh’s hand stayed on his cheek, stayed there until Chris’ breathing evened out and the sobbing had stopped. Eventually he fell into silence, nuzzling his cheek into Josh’s hand. It was the first time Joshua had come close to him since returning, the first time he’d touched him. It was… comforting. 

And then Josh made a low coo-ing noise at him. It was soft and gentle. It wasn’t a sound that Chris had ever heard him make until now. It was obviously an attempt to make him feel better, since Josh still really wasn’t grasping words yet and… it worked. Eventually Chris laid back down on the bed, and Josh stayed seated beside him, though no longer touching him, and Chris fell asleep. 

The nightmares didn’t come back.

It was an improvement for both of them


	4. Chapter 4

“Listen bro, I know you’re not into the whole cooked food thing right now but you could at least try some fruit.” Chris had seated himself in front of the bedroom closet, a smoothie in one hand. It was a blend of a lot of shit, mostly stuff with protein that he was absolutely positive Josh needed Of course just because one of them knew it was a good idea didn’t mean the other did. Josh didn’t scream at him this time when offered something that wasn’t raw meat though, so that was good. Instead, he had grimaced. Josh had actually grimaced and even if it wasn’t a positive emotion Chris was so happy to have seen it flicker across his face. “This shit is super packed with protein and strawberries. You fuckin’ love strawberries.” He spoke patiently, gently. Truthfully Chris didn’t really expect Josh to take the smoothie, but it was worth a shot. In the closet he heard a discontent chirp. Another new sound. Josh was becoming much more expressive. Another improvement. 

Eventually Josh opened the sliding closet door, just enough to peek his head out and cast a cold look towards Chris. The blonde only smiled, nudging the smoothie towards him, and after a long moment Josh picked it up. He stared at it as though its very existence offended him, but Chris remained optimistic and encouraging. Eventually Josh stuck his tongue into the cup, seeming satisfied with the taste he slurped the contents down. It’s hard for Chris to hide how absolutely ecstatic he is. This was an improvement. 

Things were getting better. Maybe Chris could actually do this. 

After Josh had finished the smoothie, Chris took the cup and set it down in the kitchen sink. He’d deal with it later, for now he simply flopped down onto the sofa in the living room area, turning on the TV for nothing else other than background noise. 

His phone buzzed in the pocket of his sweatpants, and reluctantly he pulled it out, looking at the screen.

15 new messages  
5 voicemails

He hesitates before opening his messages. 

ASHLEY [RECEIVED 5:12 PM]  
Haven’t seen you in awhile. Call?

ASHLEY [RECEIVED 10:45 AM]  
Everyone is really worried about you.

There’s more from Ashley, but he doesn’t want to read them. He feels guilty.

 

MATT MAN [RECEIVED 4:30 AM]  
If you need to talk I’m here for you man. Starting to miss you, swing by?

MIKEY [RECEIVED 2:03PM]  
Answer your phone jackass.

EM [RECEIVED 2:04 PM]  
Answer your phone Christopher. 

EM [RECIEVED 4:00 PM]  
At least text someone back for fuck’s sake.

MAMA SAM [RECIEVED 12:00 AM]  
Please be safe, I’m here when you’re ready.

There’s a lot more texts from Sam too, and a few from Jessica. Jessica sent a couple of pictures of cats though, and that was kind of nice. He didn’t even bother to listen to the voicemails. He knew they’d all be the same. At first when he’d started ignoring his friends it was because he was depressed, but now it was Josh. Chris wasn’t ready to tell his friends about him yet, he wasn’t ready, they weren’t ready, and Josh especially wasn’t ready. Still, he knew if he didn’t respond, eventually his friends would come barging into his apartment.

MAMA SAM [SENT 3:15 PM]  
Sorry things have been super cray. 

MAMA SAM [RECEIVED 3:18 PM]  
Are you okay? Like seriously?

MAMA SAM [SENT 3:20 PM]  
Yes mom I’m gr8 actually. 

And he went through the motions with the others too. Em immediately went off on him, sending him a massive text paragraph about how selfish it was that Chris didn’t at least send her something, anything to let her know he was fine. Even when she was trying to be caring she was still a massive ass. Mike offered to hang out, and Matt did the same, but Chris made an excuse for both, and in response Matt sent a picture of a sad puppy. Which Chris actually laughed at, and retaliated with an even sadder puppy, to which Matt replied ‘touche’ 

Chris hadn’t even noticed Josh perched on the other end of the sofa, eyes watching him intently. “Jesus chris Josh!” When he finally did notice Josh, Chris nearly jumped out of his skin. “Can we get you like a bell or something holy shit.” Josh simply tilted his head in response. 

For a few moments Chris fell silent, watching the slight influx of text messages. “They miss you buddy,” he murmured softly. Josh might not have understood his words but he understood the tone, the sadness in Chris’ words, and he chirped, to which the blonde smiled. “You’ll get to see them soon, when you’re a little better.” Chris wasn’t exactly sure when that’d be, but he was taking this whole thing one step at a time.


	5. Chapter 5

Josh was getting better but marginally, and slowly. Chris wasn’t really even sure how long Josh had been around, but even in that time...very little had changed. To an extent he acted more human, made more expressions, but something was holding his progress back and Chris had no idea what it was.  
And then something the stranger had said up on the mountain started to make sense. Well, out of context the information that killing a wendigo released the spirit was useless, but it meant they were spirits. It wasn’t just some horrible weird transformation, it was a type of possession. That’s why Hannah became one of them, the stranger had killed the thing that killed Beth and its spirit cozied up inside of Hannah. He wasn’t sure how his epiphany would help his best friend though. Still, the information was useful, and so began the endless hours of research.

Surprisingly enough lore on the wendigo was fairly consistent. There were disputes over their appearance, but everything else still made sense. Curing a wendigo was supposedly impossible but Chris refused to believe that. He needed to help Josh. Josh had asked for his help, and Chris wasn’t about to let him down again. 

It was a late night research binge that yielded the result he was looking for. He wasn’t sure how he had ended up on the page, hours of reading and clicking obscure related links he supposed. Even so, there it was. 

“There have been reports made where the wendigo spirit was released from its human host without killing the host. Native American tribes have shown to be the most successful with this exorcism, as the demon comes from their lore, rather than Western Religions.” 

For some time Chris sat, re-reading the paragraph. He adjusted his glasses, as if maybe he had read the thing wrong, but the words stayed the same. He saved the page, probably more than once, before opening another tab. 

“Native American Exorcists”

He hadn’t expected to get much, and he didn’t. The google search page that popped up was more of an explanation on what they -shamans apparently- did. There were a few ‘how to’ pages but Chris wasn’t about to mess with that unless he absolutely had to. 

And then a… very old far off memory circled around in his head. Matt was part Native American right? Something like that? It was on his mom’s side, if Chris was remembering right. It wasn’t something that was talked about a whole lot considering he didn’t look mixed, and no one asked. The only reason Chris knew was because he could vaguely remembering him talking about some ceremony his mom wanted to him attend, wanted him to get in touch with his roots. Chris had his phone in his hand in seconds, opening up Matt’s contact information only to freeze on the call button.

“What the fuck am I even supposed to say to him?” The words came out in a low mutter, blue gaze moving towards the closet where milky eyes stared back at him. “What? You wanna make the call? I’m sure he’d love to hear you screaming at him over the phone.” Josh didn’t respond, and Chris let out an angry huff, tossing his phone to the end of the bed. “Fucking shit man.” For now he’d just… look into other things, maybe there were Native American shamans that used facebook or something. A thought that made him chuckle a little.


	6. Chapter 6

Chris could tell Josh was hungry. 

Josh was starving, and Chris knew it. Sometimes the fits would get really bad, the ‘hangry tantrums’ as Chris called them. Josh would get in his face, dangerously close, scream angrily before grabbing onto Chris’ shoulders, or sometimes his throat. At first it was horrifying, and each time Chris fully expected Josh to just do it. He expected Josh to tear his throat out, or gut him like a pig, but he didn’t. Josh was stare and scream, and then he’d shove Chris away and hide in the closet for the rest of the day. Chris didn’t know why Josh didn’t kill him, but in the back of his mind he knew if he was anyone else Josh would tear him apart. Chris wasn’t afraid of Josh killing him anymore, it was other people he was scared for. 

Sometimes he’d catch Josh staring out the window a bit too wistfully as someone shuffled along the streets. Chris could see the hunger in his friend’s gaze, and would close the curtains to keep Josh from looking outside anymore. Whenever it happened Chris would try to get more food for Josh, make him more smoothies or give him more non-human meat, but it didn’t help. It was obvious that Josh was warring with himself, the effort Josh put into not tearing Chris apart or busting through the bedroom window and descending onto some poor person was practically tangible. It scared Chris to think that Josh was mere moments away from hurting someone, but he didn’t know what else to do. 

Chris often considered calling Matt, calling and asking if his mom had any sort of tribal connections, but he had no idea how to even word it. There was no way to ask without sounding suspicious, and so he just didn’t call and continued to walk a very dangerous line with Josh every day. Most day though, Josh didn’t do much of anything, he’d just sit and stare at Chris and each day that ticked by Josh looked more and more like a normal person. His teeth were still jagged, and his eyes still foggy, but something about everything he did seemed more human. He always looked thoughtful, like he had something to say but words never came, not after the first night. 

\----------

It was an awful idea, a terrible awful idea that could only end badly, but Chris had come to the brilliant conclusion that maybe if he removed some of the physical ‘wendigo parts’ from Josh he’d be able to be more human easier. It was a last ditch effort honestly, but there was a stop in Josh’s recover and he had no idea if this was just the end of it or if Josh was going to start going back. It wasn’t like he planned on doing anything too crazy, his goal was just to yank out the giant fucking razor teeth on the torn side of Josh’s face. 

“Okay, dude so like… here’s the plan I guess…” Chris’ words trailed off as he sat in front of the closet, “I’ll just pull out the biggest ones. It isn’t like you can’t get replacement teeth.” A weird thought, but missing teeth or replaced teeth was a lot easier to explain than razor blades in your mouth. Honestly, he wasn’t too confident in his own plan, but this was all he could think of. Josh wasn’t ready to be around the others, he wasn’t ready to see his parents yet. Chris knew the Washingtons would figure out a way to help Josh, but he couldn’t bring himself to call them, not while Josh was like this. 

A low chirp from inside the closet pulled him from his thoughts and Chris smiled wanly, “I know it’s like...not a great idea but come on bro you gotta trust me.” He hadn’t expected the door to slide open and for Josh to slip out, sitting down in front of him. The fanged teen looked pensive, and worried, but Chris smiled reassuringly. “It’ll be fine don’t sweat it.” A bit of false confidence never hurt he supposed. His fingers clenched the pliers he was holding, and he let out a steadying breath. He reached out gently, putting his free hand on Josh’s chin, coaxing his mouth open. Josh complied, still looking nervous, but he trusted Chris. It was easy for Chris to reach the pointer teeth in Josh’s mouth, there was a large gash in his face after all, so working the pliers in wasn’t the difficult part, and neither was grabbing one of the teeth between the prongs. Everything was going fine until he yanked on one of the teeth, causing Josh to snap his head away. A good portion of Chris’ hand was in Josh’s mouth, or at least a good portion of his fingers was squeezed into the gash that exposed the more gnarled teeth in his mouth. The sudden jerky movement caused Chris to panic ever so slightly, yanking his own hand back, dragging the back of his palm against sharpened fangs. 

Chris didn’t notice he was bleeding at first, didn’t notice the way Josh’s tongue darted over his teeth and the way his friend was watching him. He didn’t notice until it was too late, until he felt Josh’s clawed hand on his shoulder, shoving him down to the ground. A startled scream escaped him as Josh suddenly crawled on top of him. 

“Josh no!” Chris wasn’t sure what good he expected his words to do, even as he scrambled and kicked, trying to get his friend off of him, but Josh held him in place almost effortlessly. “Josh wait! Fuck-!” His words turned into an agonized scream as teeth sank into his shoulder, teeth that easily ripped through his shirt and wedged themselves firmly in the soft meaty flesh beneath. Chris barely registered the wet tearing sound that followed, or the blood that spattered down on his own face, blood that was dripping out of Josh’s mouth as he chewed on the piece of shoulder he’d ripped off. 

He was going to die. When he looked up at Josh again he couldn’t see his friend anymore. The eyes staring down at him were hungry, vacant, and maybe this was how it was supposed to be. Maybe he should have gone to the others, gone to someone, about Josh, and now he was going to pay the price for being such an idiot. Chris didn’t really notice as the edges of his vision began to blur, as things began to become fuzzy. He couldn’t really feel the pain in his shoulder, adrenaline and whatnot. Adrenaline that didn’t do him much good for very long, because his attempts to shake Josh off of him just got weaker and weaker. Truthfully it wasn’t so bad though, Chris couldn’t even feel whatever Josh was doing. He couldn’t feel him rummaging around inside of him, eating various viscara. He felt nothing. 

Chris didn’t feel anything for what felt like hours, until he realized someone was gripping the sides of his face rather forcefully. Again he found himself staring up at Josh as his face was jerked to the side. He could see Josh’s face, his expression twisted up in horror and Chris winced as something wet fell onto his face. It didn’t feel like blood, and another drop of whatever it was hit him in the mouth. Tears? Josh was staring down at him, crying, absolute terror etched onto his face. 

“...’s alright buddy.” The word came out horribly airy, soft. “Not your fault.” Even as Chris was bleeding out he felt it absolutely necessary to make sure Josh was okay, Josh was safe. This really wasn’t his fault. 

“...No. No. Chris.” 

Consciousness escaped him before the words could really register.


	7. Chapter 7

Chris was dying. Josh could see it in the shallow movements of his chest and the color that drained from his face. Blood was still pouring from the wound on his shoulder, gushing onto the floor, and part of Josh wanted more. He was so hungry, what could one more bite do? One more taste wouldn’t hurt…

He shook his head furiously, shoving the thoughts out of his head. He wasn’t sure what to do, wasn’t sure how to help. For a short while he stayed where he was, hovering over Chris, shaking his head roughly between his clawed hands. The blonde’s head only lolled about lifelessly, glasses slipping from his face. Josh could feel something wet streaming down his own face, coming out of his eyes and running along his cheek. He hadn’t cried in so long, since...he’d first been left in the mines. A thought that hit him like a truck, a thought he’d forgotten. He’d always thought that he had simply always existed in the mines, that was all he really knew but hazy memories were floating back. Memories of… a prank. A horrible joke played on his friends, being tied up in a shed and Chris… Chris looking so sad and betrayed. 

Josh had done it again, he’d failed his friend, hurt him, and he had no idea how to fix it. Eventually he whipped his head around, searching for something. Phone. It was tossed lazily on the bed sometime earlier and Josh scurried over to it, holding the device in his hands. It felt and looked foreign to him, but he remembered it. It was strange to look down at the words on the screen and understand what they meant. It was strange that Josh was easily able to enter the passcode that he somehow remembered from eons ago. After all what did Chris have to hide from his best friend? Well, that’d been his reasoning at the time. There was a text on the screen, but Josh didn’t bother with it, instead he opened the contact it was from, slamming his fingers into the little telephone icon next to the name. 

The person on the other end picked up on the first ring.

“Chris!” It was a familiar voice, one that Josh felt both angry and relieved to hear. His silence wasn’t comforting to the male on the other end though, and after a short pause he spoke again. “Hey man you okay?” More silence and Josh could hear the sound of keys, a door opening. “Chris this better not be a fucking joke. I’m coming over don’t hang up on me.” The male’s voice was concerned rather than angry, but Josh did as he was told and didn’t hang up. On the other end he could hear the sound of a car starting, angry muttering. “Chris come on man this isn’t funny.” 

Josh wasn’t aware that he was making sounds, even as he wandered away from the phone. He was sobbing, the sound low and all too human. Eventually the male on the other end stopped talking to Chris, and there was a long silence only broken by the sound of the car. 

When the door to the apartment opened Josh had retreated back into the closet, only leaving a small crack so he could see what was going on. 

“What the fuck!?” Josh heard the words explode out of the larger male, followed by the low sound of gagging. He pulled himself back together rather quickly though, and Josh watched as he immediately grabbed a bath towel that Chris had carelessly thrown onto his computer chair before kneeling down and shoving the cloth into the wound. Josh watched as the other shook Chris, yelling at him, and eventually Chris began to stir and eventually he was being pulled to his feet. Chris was far from “with it” and it was obvious that his rescuer was doing all of the work in terms of getting him out the door.

And then came the deafening silence that Josh had spent so long running from. The silence and the hunger that felt like it was tearing away at him.

\----------

Overly bright lights were pouring into his eyes and Chris found himself jerking awake. He was confused, to say the least, when he whipped his head about and found that he was in an all too familiar emergency room. Familiar because this was practically Josh’s second home, considering how reckless and stupid he had been all the time. His shoulder felt like someone had…

Right. He glanced over wearily, ignoring the sharp twinge he felt as he did. He was bandaged up, and while that was a relief he was also very concerned as to how he got here. Maybe someone had called the police? What did that mean for Josh? The thought caused a cold wave of panic to wash over him, his heart racing in his chest as his mind ran through all the horrible things that could be happening to his friend at this very moment.

Luckily he wasn’t left to his thoughts for very long. The curtain that isolated him from other patients opened and a tall woman emerged. Chris found her bright and piercings eyes to be a bit uncomfortable, but she smiled warmly at him, lifting a clipboard to her face for a moment.

“We didn’t get much information about what happened from your friend,” she mused idly, her voice confident and strong even as she was admitting she didn’t know what was going on. “Your wound was rather nasty if I do say so myself, though not fatal. You lost a lot of blood Christopher, but...you’ll live.” Her lips pursed as she brought a pen to her lips, tapping at them thoughtfully. “Do you remember anything?”

Chris was silent, more focused on the fact that she had said a friend had brought him here. What friend? How did they know? What did they know? She was introducing herself now, Dr. Hasan, but the words just sort of hung awkwardly in the air for some time as Chris stared at her in mute silence. Finally he spoke, his words slow and careful. “What friend… brought me here?” 

Dr. Hasan paused thoughtfully, as if considering the value in giving Chris that information, only to nod and smile again. “A boy named Matt. I believe He was frantic, and very concerned. I believe he’s still in the lobby actually, with a few of your other friends.”

The horror on his face didn’t slip by the woman before him, but she only seemed to make a mental note of it before shrugging. “Would you like to see them?”

Of course he did, but what was he supposed to say? He didn’t have a good lie thought up in order to explain what had happened, and it wasn’t likely that any of his friends would believe him. Even so he nodded slowly, and Dr. Hasan smiled and disappeared again.

His thoughts were swimming, and Chris could feel panic clutching at his heart as he sat back in the bed he’d been propped up in. What do I tell them? Should he continue to keep them in the dark about what was going on? Could he keep them in the dark?

Matt, Sam, and Ashley filed into his tiny little area. It felt way too small with all of them crowding in here, and Chris swallowed anxiously as Sam put her hand over his. 

“Chris oh my god, what happened?” The million dollar question, and Sam was staring at him with such patient and caring eyes. He swallowed anxiously, his gaze darting to Ashley who was on his other side looking just as concerned. 

The silence was getting too thick too quickly and Chris swallowed heavily before shrugging, making a mental note not to do that again when pain fired off in the whole left side of his body. “I don’t really remember to be honest with you,” he lied easily, looking at both Sam and Ashley apologetically. “Sorry guys, no cool ass kicking thriller about how I ended up here,” he said with a tiny laugh. 

They stayed for hours, asking him questions and asking if he was alright. If he would be alright to go home. Did Chris want to stay with Ashley and Sam? Not really, but they asked over and over and all he could do was sigh at them. Matt didn’t say anything for the most part, he just stood at the foot of his bed, watching him quietly. 

Chris was written as stable enough to be discharged, Dr. Hasan warning him to be careful not to agitate the stitching on his arm. She advised him on how to clean it, re-wrap it, all the good stuff. Chris wasn’t really sure how he was going to get home, but it was Matt who volunteered to take him, and honestly Chris was happy to be away from Sam and Ashley’s motherly nagging. 

Matt helped Chris into his van before climbing into the driver’s side, and honestly it was kind of awkward. Chris didn’t really know what to say to him, so he started off with something easy. “So… thanks for saving my ass I guess,” he said with a good natured chuckle. He wanted to ask how Matt had ended up at his apartment, what had he seen? 

Chris glanced over as Matt shrugged, muttering out a ‘no problem man’ as he drove, focused almost entirely on the road. 

“Uh…” The blonde bit his lip nervously. Matt knew something was up, but it was just like him to avoid the confrontation. After a few very long moments of silence though Chris spoke again, “how’d you like… know?”

It was then that Matt finally looked at him, as if the question itself was the missing piece to a puzzle he had been trying to solve. “You called me.” The words came out in an almost hoarse whisper, and for a moment Chris didn’t really understand what the big deal was. “You...didn’t call me did you?” Chris could see the gears turning in Matt’s head, his eyes returning to the road as he stared ahead. 

“I mean… maybe I did,” Chris lied. “I might have done it before I passed out.” He could see that Matt wasn’t convinced, not in the slightest and he swallowed nervously before looking to stare out his window.

“Your phone was on your bed when I got there man. There wasn’t any blood on the bed. Like any.” Matt sounded a bit annoyed now, like he wanted Chris to come clean. “A-and when I got there I could feel something watching me. I don’t know what it was but I could feel it. It was just like being back in…” The mines. Matt didn’t have to finish his thought for Chris to understand and after a long moment the blond sighed. 

“You should...pull over.”


	8. Chapter 8

Matt did exactly that, pulling over on the side of the road without a moment’s hesitation. Once the car was in park he turned to look at Chris, eyes boring into him. “Man what the hell is going on?” 

A nervous laugh escaped the spectacle wearing blond as he reached up to rub a hand on the back of his head. “So...uh.” How was he supposed to explain any of this? Any of the crazy shit happening right now? He just had to go for it he supposed. “Josh… came down from the mountain. I-I don’t know how or why but he did and-”

“Josh is alive?” Matt cut him off, voice soft and Chris looked at him and nodded slowly. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” 

Again Chris laughed nervously. “So… uh. He’s Josh but he’s not...Josh.” The silence that drew out between them was long and painful, and Chris watched as Matt’s expression shifted from confused to understanding, to horror. 

“He’s one of those… things?” Matt’s voice became hard.

Chris didn’t really want to think about what was going through his mind. So he only nodded. Before Matt could lose his fucking mind though, Chris was talking again, hurriedly. “Except he’s not like Hannah was. He’s still… Josh is still in there man. He came down from the mountain and he found me, I don’t know why but he did. He could have torn me apart but he didn’t. Josh is still in there Matt, you gotta believe me man.” He could hear himself practically begging, but when he looked back towards Matt he was staring down at his lap. “What happened the other night was a freak accident. He’s been getting better! He just...I was stupid. It was my fault I was trying to yank some o the sharp teeth out of his mouth and I totally deserved to have a piece of my shoulder chomped on.” It wasn’t that simple, but honestly it had been such a terrible idea and it wasn’t Josh’s fault at all. Chris should have waited, been more patient but he felt like he needed to at least do something to help him.

Matt was silent for a long time, and Chris couldn’t get a read on just what was going through his mind. Chris wasn’t sure what he expected, and eventually he heard Matt take a deep breath. “So...can we save him?” His tone was too quiet, too pensive, and once again Matt turned to look at Chris. 

“I… think so.” He hoped so. “But listen man you can’t tell anyone else about this right now.” Chris spoke hurriedly, as if he could see Matt taking his phone out and texting Emily the second he was out of the car. Matt’s eyes were wide, as if Chris had proposed they run off into the night together. “Listen he isn’t ready. He isn’t ready for them to know and he isn’t ready for...he just isn’t ready. You have to trust me. Matt, please.” 

After a long moment Matt nodded slowly, letting out a disgruntled sigh. “So… what can I do to… help?” Chris wasn’t sure why Matt looked so guilt ridden. It wasn’t Matt who had left Josh in the shed, wasn’t Matt who had abandoned him in the mines, but Matt looked like someone bearing the weight of doing all of those things. Maybe he still felt bad about the prank he’d pulled on Hannah, actually Chris was certain he did. 

“I actually have an idea,” Chris murmured, “but I need to get home.” He didn’t know how long Josh had been alone, or if Josh had even stayed at his apartment. It was all too easy to imagine his friend simply disappearing into the night, after all he had re-acquired a taste for human flesh and Chris could easily imagine losing him all over again. 

Matt started the car once again, falling into a thoughtful silence. For some time they stayed like that, until the curly haired boy glanced over towards Chris, “what’s your idea?”

Truthfully Chris had forgotten he had even mentioned that he had a plan, but after a moment he nodded. “So...weird question. Is your mom at all connected to like… the tribe? Her tribe I guess, I don’t really know what it’d be called” 

Chris watched the confusion work its way onto Matt’s face, but he answered even without knowing all the detail of Chris’ grand scheme. “Yeah. She tries really hard to keep it alive. She goes to the reserves a lot, speaks the language and all that stuff. Why?” 

That was more or less the perfect answer, and Chris smiled and nodded slowly. “So I was reading up on like… wendigos and stuff. I read that if they aren’t too far along, the spirit can be exorcised. But it only really works if it’s done by a shaman.” 

Matt was beginning to understand now, and he spared Chris as a worried look. “My mom isn’t a shaman or anything man…” There was more to that statement. But Chris got the hint. Matt didn’t want his mom near Josh while he was still like this, and Chris totally understood. 

“But she knows one right? The...there has to be a shaman in her tribe right?” Chris sounded painfully hopeful, it was coming together, something that could actually help Josh. “You can totally just ask...like incognito?” 

Matt was silent for a moment. “I’ll think about it.”

Hearing those words crushed Chris, but he understood. He understood why Matt was hesitant, and they remained silent for the rest of the drive home. 

MAtt wanted to walk Chris up to his apartment, but Chris had politely refused. Josh wasn’t ready, and it seemed like Matt understood that but he was concerned, overly concerned. God it was like Matt had turned into Sam or something, or maybe the mom spirit just runs in all of them. Still, Chris smiled and shook his head. He’d text.

“Well I kind of broke your door down.”

Chris was halfway out of the car when Matt finally decided to let him in on that important piece of information and for a moment the blonde just sort of stared at him. “Seriously?” He sounded more amused than anything else though. Imagining Matt just hulking out and smashing his front door down was kind of hilarious and kind of sweet. In… a weird way.

“Well like you weren’t answering the door and I could hear someone on the other end of the phone! I wasn’t just going to call a locksmith!” 

For a moment both of them stared at eachother, and then Chris started laughing. It was quiet at first, and then it was all consuming and he was practically falling back into the car. Matt followed soon after, half laughing and half trying to talk, justify his need to absolutely destroy Chris’ front door, but the blonde wasn’t listening, he was just leaned back over in his seat, practically wheezing. It had been so long since he’d genuinely laughed that it took forever to stop, and once he was done he found himself wiping the laughing-tears out of his eyes, shaking his head. 

“I’ll fix the door later I guess? I’m glad you decided to let me know or that would have been a shitty thing to come home to.” It had been awhile since Chris smiled so wide, smiled so that the corners of his eyes crinkled. Matt only looked at him and nodded a little, looking a little pensive at the mention of Chris fixing the door. He offered to fix it, and Chris pondered it for a moment. “Maybe.” He settled on before getting out of the car completely, closing the door behind him and trudging up the stairs to what he hoped would be a not destroyed apartment.

The first thing he noticed when he got upstairs was that the door was fixed. Normally something like that would have brought him joy, but right now it made his stomach crawl its way into his throat. There was a note taped to it, something scribbled in messy handwriting. 

“Matt felt bad about breaking your door down. I fixed it. Cleaned the blood off your floor too. Clean this dump.

-Mike”

Chris half expected to open the door and see Mike’s body sprawled out on the ground, Josh ripping him apart. Instead Chris saw another type of disaster. The fridge was wide open, its contents almost completely missing. The cabinets were all open, any sort of food that had been inside of them spilled out onto the counter. It was a massive disaster, but one Chris would deal with later. 

“Josh?” Chris called anxiously as he closed the door behind him, locking it slowly. There was no response and Chris felt his heart sinking. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if Josh had gone. How the fuck was he supposed to find knock off Spiderman in a town full of giant buildings? He retained some ounce of hope as he wandered back to his room. Like the note had said, the giant pool of blood that he’d left was mostly gone. There was still a rusty stain in the carpet, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as he had expected. 

The closet door rattled, sliding open ever so slightly and Chris could barely make out familiar eyes staring out at him. “Hey bro,” the blonde greeted warmly. He couldn’t keep the relief out of his voice, didn’t really try to either. Even so, he didn’t try to force Josh out of the closet, or open it further. “Listen man, don’t worry. It was an accident and the doctor said I’d be fine. It wasn’t your fault, I shouldn’t have had my hand in your mouth.” Despite his mental note to not, he shrugged, wincing at the stabbing pain that shot through him. Josh didn’t seemed convinced by his words though, and eventually Chris sat down in front of the closet, patiently. “I’m not mad.” 

It took awhile, but eventually the door slid open and Josh lumbered out, sitting down in front of Chris. It was strange to see him, but only because Chris had never seen Josh look so tired. Without thinking about the action, Chris reached out, gently grabbing onto one of Josh’s clawed hands. Josh didn’t pull away, instead he simply lowered his gaze to stare at the ground, allowing Chris to run a thumb over the back of his hand. 

They sat like that for awhile. Neither of them said anything, but that was fine. Chris was used to these sort of silences with Josh. Even before the mines, Chris would often find himself sitting quietly with Josh because there was something wrong but Josh wouldn’t talk about it, so they’d sit in silence until Josh would make a joke and both of them would laugh. There was no joke this time, just silence. 

“It...was an accident.” 

Chris’ thumb stopped moving along the back of Josh’s hand, and he looked up slowly at his friend who was now staring at him intently. Hearing his voice still shook Chris to his core. It sounded so afraid, so hoarse and after a moment he nodded slowly, smiling softly. “I know man, I know.”


End file.
